Review Blog

Oct 31 2016

How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy

Nobrow, 2016. ISBN 9781910620069
Themes: Arctic exploration, survival, Inuit/Eskimo women,
resilience. This graphic novel interleaves three stories, two based
on factual accounts of expeditions to the arctic and one
contemporary fictional thread about a disgraced academic who happens
to find the arctic accounts in the university archives. All three
are about poor decision making, endurance and survival by taking
control and making the best of a bad situation. The book opens at
the lowest point of each storyline, differentiated by colours which
help the reader throughout the book. The two arctic exploration
accounts are linked by Wrangel Island somewhere between Canada and
Russia (a map would have been informative). The first captained by
Bob Bartlett who heroically trekked over the ice to Russia to get
help when their ship was crushed and the crew marooned on the
island. The second expedition 7 years later was to claim the island
for Canada. Again the group was trapped on the island and the Inuit
seamstress, Blackjack, was left to look after an injured member of
the party (who later died) while the others went to get help. Her
story makes this worthwhile reading, with only a cat for company she
endures extreme hardship, teaching herself to use a gun to hunt for
food, resilient even though she has no idea if anyone knows she is
there. The account of the first expedition was less well articulated
and the fictional thread has the complication of the academic being
disciplined for having had a homosexual relationship with a student,
not something a young reader may understand. Older students might
find some life messages in these flawed characters and the book is
interesting for its graphic design and accessible illustration
style.
Sue Speck